© Vladimir RysSix Standout Moments So FarThe joy of six: half-a-dozen moments worth celebrating in 2020
Inthewakeofthevastracingvoidcreatedbythepandemicinthefirstfourmonthsofthe2020season,thepastsevenweekshavebeenaveritablecornucopiaofF1action.Infact,sincethestartofthiscompressedandmassivelyintenseseasonwe’vebeentreatedtosomuchgrandprixgoodnessthatthefirstsixraceshaveflashedbyinthesortofblurusuallycreatedbyanF1carblastingflat-outthroughCopseCornerineighthgear.So,inordertohelpuskeeptrack,we’vecompiledsixofourbestmomentsfromtheopeningsixrounds.It’sataleofbruises,battlesand,intheend,plentyofbubbly.
Alex On The Move© Getty Images
The start of the 2020 season wasn’t exactly kind to Alex, as for the second time in three races (going back to Brazil 2019) he was taken out of the race by Lewis Hamilton. The collision between the two at the end of the Austrian Grand Prix (when Alex was in contention for the race win and trying to pass the champion), didn’t deter the Thai racer, however, and after bouncing back with an excellent fourth the following weekend he conformed his ability to power past rivals with some exceptional overtakes during the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Twice during the race, he came up behind Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and on both occasions, he applied the right amount of pressure to force the four-time champion into costly errors. And on the second occasion, pressuring Vettel into running wide at Turn 2 with five laps remaining, allowed Alex to sweep past to claim fifth place. The 23-year-old’s best move though came against Charles Leclerc in the other Ferrari. At the end of lap 17, Alex made a better exit out of the final corner and got close enough to launch a bold move down the inside into Turn 1. Leclerc moved to defend but Alex bravely stuck to his line, drew alongside and swiftly powered away from the Ferrari.
Alex's Overtaking Master Class© Getty Images
While Max roared to second place in the British Grand Prix, the first weekend in Silverstone was a tough one for Alex as an early race collision with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen resulted in a penalty and a long battle back from the rear of the field to P8.
However, a week is a long time in F1, and the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix saw Alex put on another bravura display of overtaking brilliance as he fought his way from P9 on the grid to his third top-five finish of the season. This time Alex’s best moves were also the most outrageous. Early in the race, at around 260km/h, he powered past Kimi Räikkönen around the outside of Stowe – not a natural overtaking spot at high-speed Silverstone. On lap 29 he went one better, choosing Copse, a corner taken in eighth gear at 300km/h, to pass his old F2 rival Lando Norris on his way to P7.
Perhaps the best was saved for last though. At the beginning of lap 40, Alex was 15 seconds behind Lance Stroll. Over the following 11 laps he demolished the gap, and on the penultimate lap he again chose Copse to blast past the Canadian to claim another memorable fifth place.
Max Lifts The Winning Trophy© Getty Images
In this shortened season, Max’s retirement from P2 at the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix tends to conceal how very competitive he has been all year. Since then he’s managed five podiums in a row, with P3 at the Styrian Grand Prix followed by P2 in Hungary and Britain, victory at the 70th Anniversary race and P2 again in Spain. Extracting every last gram of performance from the car, he’s the only driver this year to have finished on the podium every time he’s finished.
This isn’t a record for Max – he had six podiums in a row between the 2018 Japanese Grand Prix and the 2019 Australian Grand Prix – but we have high hopes because he hasn’t put a foot wrong so far. Or, at least, hasn’t put a foot wrong once the lights have gone out…
Mechanics Work On Max's Car© F1
Following a reconnaissance-lap crash at the Hungarian Grand Prix, and with the mangled car limping around to the back of the grid at the Hungaroring, Max’s crew had a little under 17 minutes to rebuild the left-front corner before the five-minute hooter, at which point the tyres have to be fitted and the bulk of the crew need to leave the grid. With both a track-rod and a push-rod requiring replacement, and other suspension components requiring NDT for damage, it was – on the face of it – an impossible job. Hurrying in the garage, it might take 40 minutes; 200m away, on a grid with restricted access… no chance – but the crew somehow got it done with 20 seconds to spare.
There were a few nervous moments as Max went around his formation lap but everyone gradually unclenched as he reported the steering felt OK and the car was behaving itself. Finishing on the podium – remarkable anyway from P7 on the grid at the notoriously difficult-to-overtake Hungaroring – was a great reward for everyone’s effort. Max summed it up succinctly on his slow-down lap after the chequered flag: “The mechanics saved the day. You guys are legends! Thank you so much.”
Max Celebrates With The Team After Victory© Vladimir Rys
Formula One is a sport of small margins. Nowhere has that been more obvious than in the back-to-back races at Silverstone earlier this month. In the first race, Max was a solid third-quickest for most of the afternoon before some late-race drama elevated him to P2 at the flag – but seven days later, with slightly softer tyres, slightly different track temperatures, and the wind blowing from a different quarter, he was easily the class of the field.
Having started third – but crucially on the hardest tyre – he was able to go long, running an opening stint twice the length of that of his rivals, emerging from his first stop with his lead intact. He protected that lead with a mega-short middle stint of just six laps on the Medium tyre, and emerged from the second of two very slick pitstops in P2. From there, he had track position over Valtteri Bottas and was either going to gain track position over Lewis Hamilton when the championship leader pitted from the lead, or pass him on track with an 18-lap tyre advantage. It was the former, and Max retook the lead for a final time on lap 42 and was able to enjoy an untroubled cruise to the flag, eventually winning by 11 seconds. What a difference a week makes!
Max Comes In For A Pit Stop© Getty Images
While the team’s 135 points to date in 2020 have been founded on some spectacular drives from Max and Alex, the pit crew have also played a major role in securing those points.
At every one of the six races to date we’ve set the pace on pit stops. In Austria we topped the order with a 2.10s stop for Alex and followed that up with a 1.95s stop for Max at the Styrian GP. The best so far, though, was achieved in Spain where, on lap 21, the crew got Max fitted with a new set of medium tyres and away in a stunning 1.90s, less than a hundredth of a second shy of the world record of 1.82s we set in Brazil last year.
Further testament to the work the crew have put in can be seen in the list of the 10 fastest stops of the season to date: we hold positions one through six, ninth and 10th places.
